Gael Almeida is the Executive Director for Latin America at National Geographic Society, her work includes seeking new projects; supporting Latin American researchers, conservationists, educators, and storytellers who receive funding; triggering collaborations among the network of Explorers and partners to create long-term changes in the region. She has more than 20 years of experience working in conservation and science communication. Specifically, she has experience in building collective impact initiatives, fostering collaborations, and supporting strategic planning and funding for conservation.

 

Sanjoy Bhattacharya was born and brought up in the ‘City of Joy’, Kolkata from the State of West Bengal, India. After completing his post-graduation in Zoology from Presidency College, Kolkata in the year 1996 he has started his photographic journey getting inspiration from his maternal-uncle who was a press photographer by his profession.  Simultaneously he has started studying Art-Photography from various personalities in this field. He worked as wedding photographer, model photographer, advertisement photographer and product photographer individually from 2001 to 2004. He has started teaching photography at various organizations from 2004 to 2010. He has conducted various seminar and workshop on photography with various organizations like Nikon India, Sony India etc. from 2006 to 2012. 

www.bengalphotographyinstitute.in/faculty/

Agatha is a keen photographer who always admire the beauty of life. She lives in Jakarta, Indonesia. Agatha is the PSA (Photographic Society of America) International Relationships Vice President and the Member of PSA Board of Directors. She is also the PSA Region Director and Liaison Officer for Indonesia. Agatha is the Chairperson of Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Indonesia Chapter . Agatha is the Founder and Director of Art Photography of Indonesia, a non profit organization that connect, encourage, expand cooperation, collaboration and networking with photography organization and individuals both national and international to the development of photography in Indonesia. 

Maureen Bisognano, President Emerita and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), previously served as IHI’s President and CEO for five years, after serving as Executive Vice President and COO for 15 years. She is a prominent authority on improving health care systems, whose expertise has been recognized by her elected membership to the National Academy of Medicine (IOM), among other distinctions. Ms. Bisognano advises health care leaders around the world, is a frequent speaker at major health care conferences on quality improvement and is a tireless advocate for change. She is also an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and she chaired the Advisory Board of the Well Being Trust, co-chairs the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care with Dr. Atul Gawande, and serves on the boards of the Commonwealth Fund, Indiana University Health and Nursing Now. Prior to joining IHI, she served as CEO of the Massachusetts Respiratory Hospital and
Senior Vice President of The Juran Institute.

​​James R. Doty, M.D. is an adjunct professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and the founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University of which His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor. He works with a variety of scientists from a number of disciplines examining the neural bases for compassion and altruism. Through CCARE, Dr. Doty has overseen the development of a variety of techniques, apps, and programs to address issues of mental health, stress, anxiety and burnout. He is also the founder and CEO of Happi (happi.ai), a healthcare company focused on creating a digital platform that uses artificial intelligence combined with a human avatar to treat mental health issues. He is also the Senior Editor of the “Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science”.

www.jamesrdotymd.com/

Piero Ferrucci is a philosopher and psychotherapist. He practices psychosynthesis and lives in Florence, Italy. He has written a number of books,  including The Power of Kindness, Beauty and the Soul, and Your Inner Will (Tarcher Penguin).

Leyla Emektar graduated from Çukurova University, Art Department of Faculty of Fine Arts, she started her career as Visual Arts Teacher. Her works have been exhibited in many national and international festivals and exhibitions. Al Thani was invited to Qatar after winning the photo contest. (2012) The Digital Arts Museum in California, her artworks were given Stellar Art Awards. One of her works is exhibited in Ovar Museum, İn Portugal. (2013)  She was accepted and invited to the documentary portfolio organization organized in cooperation with HPA and UNESCO in China. (2015)

Martin Buzora is an award-winning filmmaker working around the globe. He is a passionate and daring explorer whose work is a celebration of human cultures. He was the Our World is Kind First Prize Winner for our 2019 contest.

His latest documentary portrait “The Story of Pema” (2019) is the first film of its kind by a Western filmmaker to come out of Tibet, and provides an exceedingly rare glimpse into a forbidden land and its people. His documentary short “The Story of Aisholpan” (2017) is a portrait of Mongolia’s now-famous young Eagle Huntress, a breathtaking tale of female empowerment and evolving tradition, set in the stunning landscapes of the Altai Mountains.

Martin’s ongoing series about children from disappearing cultures is not only a love song to ancient ways of life, but also an anthropological record of indigenous people whose survival into the future is unclear.

Linda Epstein is Senior Photo Editor at ShareAmerica, a division of Global Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Previously, Linda was a contract photo editor with the Washington Post which included photo researcher for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning national database won by the Post for national reporting. Prior, Linda spent 15 years as senior photo editor for McClatchy-Tribune (formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune), handling all the photos for the McClatchy Washington Bureau’s regional, national and foreign correspondents. Prior to KRT, she worked as a picture editor and assignments editor during her three years at The Washington Times.

Aundre Larrow is a Jamaican-born photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. From his work as an Adobe Creative Resident exploring stories across the country to working on the set of W. Kamau Bell’s United Shades, Aundre seeks to see the fundamental truth in each human being, regardless of background, culture, or upbringing. For him, portraiture is the archeologist’s chisel, the biologist’s microscope, the physicist’s Large Hadron Collider.

www.instagram.com/aundre

Mara Leite is an award-winning photographer and the current U.K. Landscape Photography of the Year. She is based in London and originally from Seattle, WA. Mara’s work has gained international recognition in prestigious photography contests such as the Astronomy Photographer of the Year, the International Garden of the Year, and the EPSON International Pano Awards. Her photos have also been published in National Geographic and other outlets. Additionally, Mara is also an astrobiology doctoral researcher. She is passionate about astrophotography and the benefits of dark skies.

www.maraleitephotography.com/

G. Rumay Alexander, EdD, RN, FAAN, noted presenter and consultant, is currently a professor in the School of Nursing, Assistant Dean of Relational Excellence at the Adams School of Dentistry and formerly the Associate Vice -Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion/ Chief Diversity Officer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the end of 2019, she completed her presidency of the National League for Nursing, the national voice for nursing education which has over 40,000 nurse educators and 1200 schools of nursing.

In February of 2021, she became the American Nurses Association’s Scholar-In-Residence and advises the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing and a year later the Senior Equity Advisor. She is a board member of The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health care consumers and purchasers and the nation’s premier advocate of transparency in health care.

Included in her nursing career are appointments to several transformative healthcare initiatives addressing diversity, equity and inclusion including the Commission of Workforce for Hospitals and Health Systems of the American Hospital Association (over 500,000 copies of the report have been distributed nationally and internationally), the Tri-Council of Nursing, and the National Quality Forum’s steering committee which developed the first national voluntary consensus standards for nursing-sensitive care. As the Senior Vice President for Clinical and Professional Services at the Tennessee Hospital Association and their first vice president of color, she designed and executed one of the nation’s first minority health administrators’ program, Agenda 21, which exists to this day. As a result, over 250 minority health care executives are serving and stewarding healthcare in the nation. Her passion for equity of opportunity and penchant for holding courageous dialogues to steward and promoting human flourishing is evident in all her encounters and characteristically describes her as a prophetic and caring leader.

Kristen McNicholas is a photo editor, currently working at Newsweek, previously at Discovery Inc., United Press International and National Geographic. When she’s not working, you can find her consuming media of any kind and snuggling with her four rescue pets (two dogs and two cats).

You can follow her on Instagram at @kemcnicholas.

As the national director of strategy and partnerships for the Kern National Network for Flourishing in Medicine (KNN), Kimara Ellefson fosters long-term engagement with individuals and groups across the healthcare ecosystem. She also provides operational leadership for the KNN program office while helping to shape strategic plans for expanding the KNN’s work and influence. Prior to her national director role, Kimara spent more than 20 years in a variety of other leadership roles, including interim vice president of human resources and faculty affairs at Medical College of Wisconsin. Kimara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and a Master of Business Administration, and she is currently pursuing her EdD in Leadership and Innovation. Ultimately, she endeavors to influence cultures and relationships through systems change in a way that helps all flourish.

He is a Nigerian born Legal Practitioner, Called to the Nigerian Bar in 2003, An alumni of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State (1999). OKE Stephen Iruobe, is an Attorney-at-Law and the Principal Partner of Divine Favour Chambers, he is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Full Gospel Business men Fellowship, he is also an Arbitrator, and He is a member of the Board of Trustees of World Kindness Initiative, Nigeria and the Secretary General of The World Kindness Movement.

www.theworldkindnessmovement.org; www.wkin.org

Dulce Pinzón was born in Mexico City in 1974. She studied Mass Media Communications at the Universidad de Las Americas in Puebla Mexico and Photography at Indiana University in Pennsylvania.  In 1995 she moved to New York where she studied at The International Center of Photography, Film at NYU and Labor Law at Dowling College, Long Island. Her work has been published and collected internationally.

www.dulcepinzon.com

Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding  co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is also the Executive  Director of the Mindsight Institute which focuses on the development of mindsight, teaches  insight, empathy, and integration in individuals, families and communities.  

For more information about his educational programs and resources, please visit:  www.DrDanSiegel.com and www.mindsightinstitute.com

Child of North Carolina. Journalism, pre- and post-Internet. Film student. Social science, quantitative and qualitative methods. Fell in love with Chapel Hill. Knight Foundation, planning & evaluation. Blank Family Foundation, lots of things in Georgia and Montana. John Templeton Foundation, funding research around the world. Over quarter-century, helped award and monitor $1 billion in grants. 2020, COVID ended 28 years of marriage to Betsy Ross Bare. Current loves, Isadora and Winston, rescue dogs who rescue me. Writer: stories, poems, songs, including 2021 novel, Fair-Skinned Brunette with the Porcelain Shine, and album, “Lassie James Songbook Vol I.” 2023 novel, My Biscuit Baby (in press). Visual artist: photography, clay, metal. English teacher Mom. Math teacher Dad. Sisters, one older, one younger, both smarter. Previous experience: driving school bus, planting peach orchard, jury selection consultant, janitor. Taste for genmaicha tea, bow ties, biscuits, whiskey.

 

Marilyn Turkovich started with the Charter for Compassion in 2013 as the education director and since that time has moved into a number of different roles with CFC. Marilyn‘s background has been primarily in higher education and most specifically in directing teacher training programs for the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and chairing Columbia College-Chicago’s master’s program in multicultural and global education.  She has done a considerable amount of curriculum writing through the years, much of it related to international and cultural topics. 

www.charterforcompassion.org

Volkov Serhii was born and raised in Genichesk (Kherson region). In 2005 he entered the Dniprovskiy National University of Railway Transport named after Academician V. Lazaryan. In 2010 he graduated from the Faculty of “Organization of Railway Construction” and received a degree in “Civil Engineer”. He worked as an engineer for 4 years.

The photographer’s path began in 2012. After moving to Rivne in 2014, Serhii completely dedicates himself to photography and turns his hobby into a favorite job. The main activities are classic portrait and wedding photography.

www.volkovsergey.pro

Guri Mehta is the Director of KindSpring, a global online community that fosters and promotes kindness. This initiative is part of ServiceSpace, where Guri is a founding member. Beyond ServiceSpace, she has dedicated most of her life to non-profit work in the Bay Area, with her recent focus being a network of homeless shelters.

She has served on the boards of Dharma Realm Buddhist University, Gramshree, Empty Hands Music, and Gratefulness.org.

Currently residing in Santa Cruz, California, with her husband, Guri is passionate about animals, travel, photography, and meditation.